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The Gate

          “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber.  The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.  The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.  But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.
          Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them.  I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture.  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:1-10)

          We’re like the Pharisees with regard to this figure of metaphor. Most of us don’t have a clue about sheep. In fact, the Pharisees probably had a better idea than most of us do. I know a little that I’ve learned by reading A Shepherd Looks at The Twenty-Third Psalm (W. Phillip Keller) and The Odyssey (Homer), and by listening to sermons. Apparently, any good shepherd could have said that he was the gate for the sheep, because they spend the night blocking the doorway to the sheepfold.
          The real problem, however, is that people are offended at the idea that they are sheep. The Pharisees didn’t have a problem with calling other people sheep. There are Atheists and others today who are only too pleased to call religious folks and others who are not sufficiently elite, who are not Brights, who are not woke, sheep or sheeple, but they are not sheep. No, Orwell was right, “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others” and they are more equal. And, of course, anyone who says that they are not more equal can only be claiming such because the anyone in question believes that said anyone is more equal. How arrogant can anyone be?
         Jesus was right. People are sheep, and they will not follow someone they don’t know. And that’s the sad thing. They are passing judgment on Him without knowing Him.


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